Keith Fimian Refused Employees Access to Birth Control

While Republican Candidate Keith Fimian (VA-11) claims
to support a woman's access to birth control, a heath
care plan for Fimian's company made available on Virginia blogs
shows that Fimian refused to cover contraceptives for his employees under his
company's heath care plan.

Fimian's plan
also explicitly states that even if a woman's life was at risk an abortion would
not be covered, a position even more extreme than Fimian's stated anti-choice
stance.

"Keith Fimian has proven that he is too extreme for
Northern Virginian, given his opposition to life-saving stem cell research and
his radical anti-choice views," said Kyra
Jennings, Southern Regional Press Secretary for the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee. "Now, we learn that Keith Fimian actually
refused the women who worked for him access to contraceptives. Keith Fimian's
extreme values are out of touch with the need of Northern
Virginia families."

Keith Fimian's
health care plan also included does not cover "any expenses incurred directly or
indirectly as the result of an abortion. This exclusion applies to all abortion services including those
performed when the covered person's health is placed in permanent jeopardy." [Raising Kaine,
10/16/08; Left
of The Hill Blog, 10/16/08]

23 states currently
have laws that generally say if an insurer or plan covers other prescription
drugs and/or outpatient services, it must also cover contraceptives and
contraceptive services. [Contraceptive Equity
Laws in the States, Center for Reproductive Rights, 1/4/06]

Keith Fimian has
claimed he is not opposed to contraceptive use. From the Washington Post: "Although [Keith Fimian]
is opposed to fetal stem cell research and to abortion unless the life of the
mother is at risk, he is also opposed to the death penalty, he said. He is not,
as some of the mailings have suggested, opposed to contraceptive use." [Washington
Post, 9/10/08]